Air eliminator



Patented Aug. 5, 1947 i 25th@ UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE AIR ELvNAroa Arthur P. Ncolette, Albany, Galia Application October 30, 1944; Serial No. 566994- r'caim's (01. ma -11 3) The present nvention relates' toimprovemnts* in 'air eliminators, and'has particular refereiice tf a device for eliminating air from' a; Conduit or line on'the suction side of a pump. i

In installations of this character the lirie lead ing to the suction sideof the; pump maybe fed, from time to time, by' trucks or otherwise,` to' bring the li'quid to the pump, for further ad vance by the latter, and during the intervals kie-- tween Operations, the line, which may consist off a pipe Conduit and: a fiexibl e Conduit' couple@ thereto, may fill with air which interferes Withproper' pump operation;

My deviceis intended 'to relieve' the* line of the air and to; allow the' liquid advancing toward the" pump to crowd out the air and' to per'mit the entire line to-fil with a compactbody'of liquid.

It is further prop'ose'd* to' provide an air elimi nator of the" character' described that is* auto matic in operation that will open" automatically' afterpump action` cease's'to allow'the air" to' es cape when' the line is filled With liquid, that Will automatically limitthe amount of liquid entering' the' device, will' automatically close when liqui'disf' withdrawn from the device and will re-open' for completihg'thecycle after pumping action has.

cea'sed;

Further objects and' advantages' of my inventionwill appear as' the specification' proc e'e'ds;

and: the novel* features of my air eliminator' will' be* fully' defin ed in' the' claims'- hereto' appended:

The preferred" form of my' invention is' illustrated in the ao'companying drawing formin'g part offthis application, in which the figure' shows' a' indicated at 4 sothat' all' the air from the entire line maybe forced' toward' the. air eliminator. y

If thereare several high' points in the line,oseveral' air eliminators may be employed;

The line z may be such asisemployed at serv ice-Stations, adapted to be fed from trucks, -with flexible: hose coupled to a rigid pipe line.

When the pump ceases to operate, the pipe line fills with air to` a certain extent, and the flexiblezhose, before couplingais also filled-with:

air.

The present air eliminator was developed to allow the liquid fed from the truck to drive the air out of the line and to deliver the liquid in to rest on the valve seat formed by the uppe'r end compact form to the pump for the latter to act on.

eliminatorcomprises in its principal reature's" ac haihbe h avng a suitable nipple 6 conneting 'thesae into' the pipe' line, a valve l in the meine, an ai i outlet 8, a vent 9; and an outlet connection u for pump air to escape.`

The valv'eTis-th nature of a cup ll adapte'dof the nipple 6 which is raised slightly above* the .floor of the chamber.

stern 2 oi`-`th`e` vlve e'xtends'lnto the nip'- p-le and' maybe of any suitable' shane', such as cross-shape in sctionyto allow air and liquid to pass' fre-elywherthe valve is' lifted off its seat; The vave stern pro ects' through the bottom of" the upwar'dy to" form a suitable' attach ment fr a. lever' |3 pivted' in a Dost M* and weight' I 5 t e`n`d`s to lift' the valv'e ao is; sure; cieritly heavy todo so"whe`nth`e Valve cup is' empty; while itwill yed' to the weight of the valve when thecup isfilledwith liquid. The lever !3 has a stop' I limiting the dowiiward movement of'th'e Weight.

The cup isformed with a smalloutlet H" near" thbott'om thereof.

The air outlet 8' is" provided' in" the' top" wall of the chamber and is controlled by a valve ll op;

erate'dby ai hoat [8- at the end of a ro-d 19' piv oted in a brackt'fl. The'downward movement of' the float l'8 islimited'bya stop'Z l'. i

The' vent tube' 9" may be'of any suitable form' and" is' controlled? by" a' suitable check valve 22 allowing airt'to'betsucked into the chamber, but

prevn'tingj eitherair or' liquid from leaving the chamber. i

pjump; at its" highest poiht', with the bottom" of the chamber'and' this* Conduit is provided with a checlvalve' 2 3 allowing a``r`t` esca e from the" pump' into the c amber;

In shape. and Construction; the chamber may be of any suitable form, and is here shown as comprising a cylindric'al side wall 24 and top and bottom plates 25 and zt securedth'ereto by means-of bolts-zll I-n operation, the valve 'i normally occupies-the open position indicated in dotted lines. At this time thevalve-fl is also open, and the pump' is' not Operating:

When thet'ick'd rivr c'onnects his 'ho'se to 'the' pipe line and opens thefvalve for his hose, theliquid enters the-hose anclthe` line and drives theair ahead-to the highest point and outthrough th'eivalve kthe chamber `5-andthe outlet' 8.

The liq'uid, e'ntering;` the'pump, will also drive" air contained therein through the conduit l& and the chamber 5 toward the outlet 8. The liquid itself Will follow the flow of the air and enter the chamber 5 until it reaches a level where the fioat 18 closes the valve 8.

At this time the line and the pump are full of compact liquid and the pump may now be started without any'danger of air lock.

As the pump operates it draws the liquicl out of the chamber, the valve 9 relieving the vacuum, and, as the level of the liquid lowers, it gradually drops below the upper edge of the cup H, which is filled with liquid to such an extent that the combined weight of the cup and the valve exceeds that of the weight and causes the valve to close. The valve remains closed, under the suction of the pump, until the latter stops operating.

In the meantime, the cup is slowly drained of its liquid through the small hole ll', causing the weight to outbalance the valve, and, when sufllcient liquid has leaked out for this purpose, and the suction has ceased, the weight again lifts the valve to open position which completes the cycle of Operations.

I claim: i

1. An air eliminator for a liquid line, comprising a chamber having connection with the line and having a fioat-controlled outlet, a valve in said connection and having means for normally opening the same, whereby air may escape from the line through the chamber and the outlet, as the line fills with llquid, the hoat-control being adapted to limit the outfiow of air from the chamber whereby the flow of the liquid into the chamber is also limited, a cup on the valve adapted for holding liquid and for closing the valve when the liquid level in th chamber sinks below the level in the cup, and a slow leak in the cup adapted for retarded discharge of the liquid from the cup to permit the latter to yield to the valve-opening means.

2. An air eliminator for a liquid line, comprising a chamber having connection with the line and. having a fioat-controlled outlet, a valve in said connection and having means for normally opening the same, whereby air may escape from the line through the ch'amber and the outlet, as the line fills with liquid, the hoat-control being adapted to limit the outow of air from the chamber whereby the flow of the liquid into the chamber is also limited, a cup on the valve adapted for holding liquid and for closing the valve when the liqu'd level in the chamber sinks below the level in the cup, and a slow leak in the cup adapted 'for retarded discharge of the liquid from the cup to permit the latter to yield to the valve-opening means, the chamber having a vent valve for admitting air when the liquid level recedes.

3. In an air eliminator of the character de scri bed, a chamber having a valve opening-and a valve seat in the bottomthereof, a cup mounted for cooperation with the seat to form a valve therewith and having a stern projecti-ng into the opening, a lever fulcrumed in operative proximity to the cup and having one arm attached thereto and a weight on the second lever arm, the weight being such as to lift the valve when the cup is empty and to be lifted by the valve when the cup is filled with liquid.

4. In an air eliminator of the character described, a chamber having a nipple in the bottom thereof, a cup mounted for cooperation with the nipple 'to form a valve therewith and having a stern projecting into the nipple, a lever fulcrumed in operative proximity to the cup and having one arm attached thereto and a weight on the second lever arm, the 'weight being such as`to-1ift the valve when the cup is empty and to be lifted by the valve when the cup is filled with liquid the nipple projecting above the floor of the bottom, and the cup having a slow leak whereby liquid may drain out of the same.

5; In combination, a pump, a liquid line leading thereto, and an air eliminator comprising a :chamber having connection with the line on the suction side of the pump and having a floatcontrolled outlet, a valve in said connection and having *means for normally opening the same, whereby air may escape 'from the line through the chamber and the outlet, as the line `lls 'with liquid, the fioat control being adapted to limit the flow of the liquid into the chamber, a cup on the valve adapted for holding -liquid and for closing the valve when the liquid level in the chamber sinks below the level in the cup, and a slow leak in the cup adapted for retarded discharge of the liquid from the cup to permit the latter to yield to valve-opening means, the chamber having a vent valve for admitting air when the liquid level recedes, and the pump having an air escape passage leading to the chamber with a check valve controlling said passage.

6. In combination, a pump, a liquid line leading thereto, and an air eliminator comprising a chamber having connection with the line, a valve in said connectionand biased to be normally open whereby air may escape from theline as 3 the latter is filled with liquid, and means for limiting the flow of liquid into the chamber, the pump having an air escape passage leading to the chamber with a check valve controlling said y passage.

7. An air eliminator for a. llquid line comprlsing a chamber having connection with the line, a valve in said connection and having means biasing it to be normally open, whereby air may escape from the line as the latter fills with liquid,

-means for limiting the outfiow of air from the chamber whereby the flow of liquid into the chamber is also limited, the valve being provided with means operable to close it when the liquid level inthe chamber is lowered under the influence of suction, the latter means being operable to yield to permit reopening of the Valveby the biasing means when suction ceases.

ARTI-IUR P. NICOLETTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

